Breaking Tifa 2
by Kalta79
Summary: Sequel to Twisted/Breaking Tifa. I was going to call this Breaking Elena, but changed my mind. When it's all done and you read the ending, you'll understand. Set a year after the ending of the first story. #Rape/Non-Con, #Alternate Universe - Dark, #Mental Health Issues, #Bittersweet Ending, #Dominance, #Good and Bad Relationships, #Don't Judge Me
1. Chapter 1

Reno woke up first, and looked at the naked body of his sleeping wife. It still felt weird to him to actually have a wife, even after almost a year, let alone a wife who gave him the leadership of Wutai. Being here had a been a mixed blessing as far as Yuffie's 'recovery' was concerned. She had been gone for only a year and a month, but she felt that she was just a sex doll, and had started to erase her own memories of any life before she was raped and broken, so she was almost a stranger to her own people. And her overly submissive behavior didn't help, it was so different from how she used to be that it further alienated her, especially when some of the Wutaian aristocracy who had attended the Bacchanalia where she had been defiled freely talked about her behavior. Yuffie herself seemed to remember some of the nobleman enjoying themselves with her, and for an unmarried royal woman to behave so wantonly, and in public no less, was a grievous sin. Reno handled the problem by having the two most vocal nobles about Yuffie's promiscuity publicly executed for treason, their bodies left to rot in dishonor, refused a proper burial. The rumours lessened after that.

But being where she was expected to give orders had helped a little, even though Reno had had to order her to take charge of the palace household like a proper wife at first. Yuffie was seventeen now, maturing quite nicely, and he had seen enough Wutaian women to know that she was more beautiful than most. He started stroking her hair and she opened her eyes and looked at him for a moment before smiling and then impulsively kissing him.

"Happy anniversary." Yuffie shyly told him, a bit taken aback by her forwardness, but they had decided to celebrate their anniversary a week before the Bacchanalia, to not have them coincide.

"Happy anniversary." Reno replied, pulling her to him. Their marriage had not been consummated yet, because he was waiting for her to show some initiative before he touched her, as a sign she was getting better and he wouldn't be raping her, and now she had. Her breasts teased him as he started his exploration of her body, almost begging him to play with them.

Yuffie moaned as she felt his lips on her body, grateful he was finally touching her. No one else who had used her had touched her like this though, they just shoved themselves or other objects into her until they were satisfied. But her husband…every movement of his felt so good, and the lower he went, the more overwhelmed she was. She cried out as he slipped his head between her legs, and Reno waited until she was lost in her first orgasm before he entered her. He was relieved they could start making their marriage real before heading back to the castle, he didn't really want Yuffie under Tifa's thumb again, but she had never really gotten away from it, not with Shalua as her spy. Reno had never had any illusions about that, except Shalua had nowhere near the experience she needed for a job like hers, and he was somewhat insulted that Tifa thought she was right for the job. Reno hadn't come as far as he had on luck, though it had helped on occasion. He was more than willing to remind them who they were dealing with. It was going to be an interesting reunion at the Bacchanalia, he thought as Yuffie cried out for more.

"Your Majesty, this prisoner was found vandalizing your statue in New Junon, and started slandering you once she was caught." Barret said as he walked Tifa down the shackled line of new prisoners, stopping in front of the fourth one. Special offenders were sent to them to deal with as they saw fit. "Kneel, bitch!" he told the prisoner.

"Kneel yourself!" she snarled, only to have her knees struck from behind, and she involuntarily cried out as she fell onto the cold hard stone of the dungeon floor, her knees taking the brunt of it.

Tifa scrutinized the young woman carefully…she appeared to be in her early twenties, and looked angry enough to kill, which made Tifa smile. "I'm not going to ask you any questions, because I don't care what you have to say." she told the prisoner, and started stroking the woman's blonde hair. "You are pretty though. And…" Tifa suddenly shoved her hand up the woman's skirt and into her panties, exploring further. "Ah, you _are_ a virgin. Too bad we have enough centerpieces for the Bacchanalia tomorrow, to honor…" Tifa's voice trailed off, since she refused to say Cloud was killed two years ago. Her Cloud was killed at Nibelheim, plus he lived on in the twins…the man killed at the Bacchanalia was just her husband. But to play the grieving widow properly, she had started demanding each village send their two prettiest virgins, and Tifa would pick one each year to be defiled in Cloud's honor during the opening ceremony, and the virgin's home village would be rewarded handsomely. The 'winner' became the property of the first one to defile them, Tifa wasn't concerned for what, she just wanted them gone once they were no longer entertaining. She caught sight of Zack in the doorway, looking rather anxious, and another idea occurred to her. "I'll finish this later, put her in the special cell. I've got plans for her." Tifa ordered Barret and swept out of the dungeon, Zack eagerly following her to the royal bedchamber.

Once there, he locked the door while she stripped off her robes and got on all fours, putting the painkiller on the small of her back for him. She felt him take the pill off her, grateful she had made him dependent on them. Part of her was disgusted to be doing this with Aerith's husband, in case he ever got the idea to do this to Aerith, but she couldn't help herself. Tifa shivered at the wrong moment, and cried out as he roughly entered her, gripping the sheets harder. It was the high from the drug making him do this, and Zack never really remembered what exactly he had done to her during the initial reaction, only that they had sex, which is why she could trust him to not betray her. Tifa was incapable of admitting to anyone, least of all herself, that Sephiroth had left her with a need to be violently dominated on occasion. She was Empress now, answering to no one, that's all that mattered. Zack's performance ended satisfactorily as Tifa got the pain and pleasure she needed so desperately from him. She quickly dressed, using one of the healing materia on herself before leaving him there, recovering from the throes of sexual and drug-induced pleasure as she headed back to the dungeon, stopping by the special cell to look again at their latest acquisition. The blonde was still angry, but they'd soon cure her of that, and then she could serve Zack and Aerith. Tifa didn't care if Zack abused the servants, but if he ever hurt Aerith, she'd teach him the true meaning of pain before she let him die.


	2. Chapter 2

Zack slowly became aware of his surroundings again, not too surprised to find himself on Tifa's bed. He knew she had hooked him on drugs on purpose, since she would taunt him about it on occasion. He also knew he should try and kick the habit, but it made living in this twisted world bearable. He sat up too fast and groaned, holding his head in his hands for a few moments until he heard the door open and looked up.

"Zack?" Aerith asked, walking into the room. "Are you here?"

"Yeah." he mumbled. "What's going on?"

A smile broke out over her face as she followed his voice to the bed. "Since the upcoming Bacchanalia is also our first anniversary, what better way to celebrate than to start our family?" She reached out her hands and cupped his face in them before kissing him.

Zack mentally sighed in resignation as he took Aerith in his arms. Having her as his wife also made life bearable, even though she wasn't exactly the Aerith he had once known. Zack knew too much had already been taken from him, he wasn't going to lose Aerith too. He almost felt like everything was normal as he made love to her, since he probably would have married her anyway if the last few years had turned out differently. "I love you."

"I love you too." Aerith replied automatically as she felt him pour into her. They had only had sex a few times over the past year, but it was different than it had been with Cloud. That had just been so she could receive his seed, Zack consummated their marriage almost hesitantly, and at first she was worried he didn't care about her, and it was going to be like Tifa's horrible marriage to Cloud. But based on things Zack had inadvertently let drop, Aerith had figured out he was just having trouble adjusting to what happened while he was asleep all those years. She did care deeply about him, but her heart belonged to Tifa first. Aerith was grateful he had forgiven her for pushing him over the railing in her tower. She had nearly forgotten about him when he showed up again, since Tifa was the only one who mattered to her, and she had freaked out, probably in part to her pregnancy hormones. But eventually she remembered that she had once wanted her relationship with Zack to blossom into marriage, and Tifa had granted her wish. "Her Majesty has found us a new servant, but she said we have to train her first. We could use a nanny, I want a big family." Aerith told him as they got dressed again.

"She wants us to train a servant?" Zack hadn't expected that, since he knew what Tifa's version of training servants entailed, and surprisingly Tifa had sheltered Aerith almost maniacally from the depravity all around them.

"Yes." Aerith nodded. "Would you like to go with me and meet her now?" She asked as she held out her hand towards him.

"Sure thing." Zack was curious to find out what Tifa was planning, since there had to be an ulterior motive, he was privately convinced she was now incapable of doing anything straightforward. Part of him did feel sorry for her, because of what Reno and Aerith had told him about the past few years, and his own experiences with her. Sephiroth had pretty much destroyed the Tifa he first met, and even if he couldn't blame her for how she was now, he dreaded her doing something so horrible that he'd have to try and stop her. He had his Buster sword back, but it was hard for him to use it, unable to shake the feeling it was tainted now with Cloud misusing it at Sephiroth's whim for years. And even if he was able to defeat Tifa with all the dangerous materia she had at her disposal, losing her would kill Aerith too, her submission to Tifa was too absolute.

Elena was furious with the world, but most of all at herself, having been caught so easily. The only thing she regretted was that she didn't do more damage to Tifa's statue before she was caught. She had held back her anger so she could take care of her parents. It was bad enough that they had to stomach the indignity of the military academy her family had run for generations being forcibly turned into a training center for those serving the regime that had her sister slaughtered. Her father had faded away with the shame of it, and when Sephiroth was killed, the 'Divine Empress' had a monument built to honor the Turks at their final resting place, and it had driven her mother mad with the hypocritical injustice of it all.

"Meal time, wench." the warden's voice announced, interrupting her hateful thoughts.

"I'm not a wench!" Elena snapped.

"You will be." he replied coolly, and when Elena refused to open her mouth to eat the spoonful he offered, he was about to strike her when the cell door opened, about to yell at the intrusion until he turned his head to see who it was. "How may I serve you, Lady Aerith, Sir Zack?"

"Leave us." Aerith ordered him.

"Yes, my Lady." The warden knew better than to disobey them, and there was no fear that the prisoner could hurt either of them, so he put the spoon back in the dish and left.

"What's your name?" Zack asked the young woman who reminded him of someone. He was extremely surprised that their new servant was a criminal being held in the dungeons, and even more so that she was in the cell he himself had recovered from his fall in. What was going on with Tifa? The young woman was thoroughly strapped to a chair that had a hole in it and a bucket underneath, signaling that she was to be a long term resident of the chair.

"I don't have to tell you anything!" Elena raged, refusing to look at them. "I hate you all!"

"No, you don't _have_ to tell us anything." Aerith calmly replied as Zack's arms wrapped protectively around her. Tifa had been right, this woman obviously needed the kind of love she could only get here. "But you will." She gently stroked Elena's hair. "Won't you?"


	3. Chapter 3

"You need a bath." Aerith said when the woman still refused to introduce herself or eat her meal. "Would you ask the guard to get me some hot water, soap, and a washrag please?" she asked Zack.

"Don't you dare touch me!" Elena snapped at Aerith as Zack opened the door and gave the guard the order.

"I won't hurt you, I promise. We're going to take care of you." Aerith tried to reassure her. "If you don't feel like telling us your name, I'll call you…Cora. That means maiden, and you'll be our handmaiden, won't you?" She didn't know why the planet supplied her with that name, but it had.

"YOU BLIND FREAK! DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT NAME TO ME!" Elena didn't know how Aerith could possibly know her dead sister's name, but no one had the right to say that name to her, especially not anyone responsible for her death. "I know who you are, you're just the Empress' whore! Do you know how many people died because of you?!"

"Don't you **ever** call her those names again." Zack's voice suddenly had a dangerous edge to it as he put the requested items on the floor next to Elena's prison chair. There were many people who had cause to hate Sephiroth and Tifa's regimes, but he wouldn't tolerate anyone hurting Aerith. She was more of a victim of them than anyone on the outside would ever know. He turned around so he wouldn't see Aerith wash her.

"You will learn to care about us once you see how wonderful Her Majesty really is. She wishes all her subjects to be happy." Aerith's voice faltered a little getting the words out. She had never been subjected to such hatred since Tifa had rescued her, even though she had warned Aerith about it. She took a deep breath and continued as she knelt in front of Elena, dipping the washrag in the water bucket which was only warm now. "But some people just don't know what's good for them, and it's not her fault that she can't let them spread their sad lies." Aerith gently stated to Elena as she started washing her face, which was hard because she kept moving her head away. "Once you give yourself completely to her, you'll learn what true happiness is, just like I did." Aerith's face lit up and with her white eyes shining, she turned her head briefly towards Zack. "She'll grant you everything. Right, dear?" she asked her husband.

"My wife doesn't lie." Zack said reluctantly, after he himself found an answer that wouldn't be another lie, since Aerith genuinely believed what she was saying was the truth.

"See? Trust us and you'll be free." Aerith unbuttoned the shapeless prison garment Elena was wearing so she could finish washing her. "You feel pretty on the outside, you just need to learn how to be pretty on the inside."

"What are you doing?" Yuffie asked as Reno positioned her so she was straddling him.

"We're trying something new." Reno told her. He wanted to see how she responded on her own. "This time you're going to control how it goes, understand?" He closed his eyes then, not wanting to look at the girlyness all around them. Now that he and Yuffie were having sex, he had ordered mirrors to be installed on the ceiling above their bed in the royal bedchamber, but that meant they had to use Yuffie's old bedroom in the meantime. Being surrounded by stuffed animals and having sex in a four-poster canopied bed made him feel so wrong. At least all the frilly ruffled crap everywhere in the room wasn't pink, but lavendar or pale blue, with ivory trim. Part of him wondered if this room was partly responsible for Yuffie's issues.

"I…I think so." Yuffie hoped she wouldn't disappoint him. He was her husband, and she was beyond lucky that even knowing her only value was as a concubine, not a bride, he still took her as his wife. A vague memory of seeing other couples do this at the Bacchanalia surfaced, and she slid him inside her before grabbing the headboard and starting to gently ride him. He wasn't giving her any cues on if she was doing it right, so she went a little faster and was rewarded by hearing a groan escape his lips. Yuffie stayed at that pace for a while, but when he didn't respond anymore, she tightened her grip on the headboard and went a little harder, and that seemed to work. Riding her husband was using muscles she was unfamiliar with and she started to feel herself tire out when he cried out and she realized she had pleased him, and she gratefully slowed down, panting almost in concert with her husband.

"You didn't try to please yourself, did you?" Reno asked her as a frown briefly appeared on his face. He reached up and took her hands off the headboard and held them firmly in his own.

"I…I am pleased by pleasing you." Yuffie replied almost fearfully, feeling herself tremble at the thought that she might have disappointed him after all. He was the only person who had ever wanted her to enjoy sex, but she didn't know how to unless he made her.

"When the mirrors are installed and we're back in our proper bed, we're going to find out what you like." Reno informed her.

"Yes, Hus…Reno." Yuffie replied, remembering he liked her only using his real name, no titles, and she was grateful he didn't seem to be mad at her after all.

"How did your introduction to your new servant go?" Tifa asked Aerith as they bathed together after dinner.

"She was so angry, it made me sad to think that there are people like that out there." Aerith told her. "But I told her she just needs to trust us and give herself completely to you, and she'll be rewarded with true happiness, because you did it with me."

Tifa smiled as she pulled Aerith through the rose-scented bubbles, wrapping her arms around her handmaiden. "You gave me true happiness in return." Tifa said before kissing her neck. "How did she respond?"

Aerith couldn't control the slight tremor in her body as she remembered the pure hatred emanating from the young woman, and she hung her head down.

Tifa became alarmed and released Aerith so she could turn her around and look at her handmaiden face to face. "What's wrong? She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"She…um…said that I was a blind freak and nothing but your whore." Aerith reluctantly admitted. "And that lots of people died because of me."

Any of those serving under Tifa would have started running for their lives if they had seen the expression that came over the Empress' face. Moments later she cupped Aerith's face in her hands. "You are not a freak or a whore, do you hear me?" Tifa kissed her tenderly at first, then with more passion as she felt Aerith respond to her. She ran one of her hands down Aerith's wet body, caressing her until she reached her thighs and slid her hand between her legs. "And I would kill the whole world if I had to, if it would protect you. You're that special to me. Never forget who you are, okay?"

"Yes, Lady Tifa." Aerith moaned, feeling reassured as much from Tifa's unarguable declarations about how much Aerith meant to her as Tifa making love to her again. "I'm yours."

Zack was surprised when Aerith walked into their room and took off her bathrobe before getting into bed. He had thought she would have been with Tifa all night. "Is everything okay?" he asked his wife, smelling roses as she started caressing him.

"We're trying to start a family, remember? And I was thinking…I want you to teach me new things while we're trying. I want to make Lady Tifa and you proud of me at the Bacchanalia. I've only been able to attend last year's, and it was our wedding. I don't want to give people the false impression that I'm a freakish whore anymore." Aerith told him.

Zack stared at her. She really had no idea what the Bacchanalia was about. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Aerith stated emphatically. "Teach me your deepest desi…what was that?" she paused when both she and Zack heard what sounded like a distance scream.

Elena sat in her prison chair, amazed at the idiocy of the Empress' handmaiden. She was obviously quite batty to believe such sugar-coated lies. If she had to pretend to trust them to get free, she was willing to do it, then she'd take care of the Empress. Suddenly the door to her cell burst open, and there the Empress herself stood, carrying something in her hand, with an expression on her face that gave Elena a deathly chill despite herself.

"You and I need to have a talk about manners." Tifa said grimly, as the materia she was always wearing started glowing.


	4. Chapter 4

A frightening smile appeared on Tifa's face as she touched the fire materia. As the flames engulfed her, Elena screamed with all her might. The chair suddenly turned to ash and Elena fell onto the cold stone floor, her muscles reacting painfully to the sudden change in position, but the cold was a welcome sensation to her burning flesh, though it couldn't help her scorched throat. And before she could figure out what to do, Tifa was kneeling on top of her, healing Elena's wounds with another materia before she wrapped her hands carefully around Elena's throat. "Say you'll apologize to Aerith in the morning." Tifa ordered her.

It was hard for Elena to breathe, but she tried to get the words out. "Fuck you and your blind whore!" she spat at Tifa, thinking the Empress was going to kill her no matter what, so she would go down fighting.

Tifa's hands tightened in crazed anger around Elena's throat as she put more pressure on her chest. Elena felt the life being squeezed out of her, and just as she felt herself start to lose consciousness, suddenly the pressure ceased and she gasped for breath. "Oh, you just lost your chance to have the honor of being trained by Aerith." Another chilling smile appeared on Tifa's face as she stood up and grabbed Elena by the hair to stand her up as well. She then put the naked struggling blonde in a headlock and dragged her out of the dungeon to the door leading to the nearby barracks.

"Let me go!" Elena cried in vain. She had spots in her eyes from the near suffocation and felt light-headed so couldn't put up much of a fight.

"Since you have such a fascination with blind whores, I'll let you see how it feels to be one." Tifa released Elena and quickly put a materia-embedded choker on her.

The materia started glowing as soon as it touched her neck and Elena's world went black. She tried to demand to know what Tifa had done to her, but no sound came out when she opened her mouth.

"Your new accessory is complete with blind and mute materia. I had this specially made a long time ago, and you are the first person to deserve it. All you get to do now is listen. Since you rejected learning the easy way, we'll try the hard way." Tifa opened the door to the barracks, and all the guards there jumped to attention when they saw the Empress. "At ease, boys. I know how much you've missed your sex toy over the past year, so I found someone to take her place." Tifa ruthlessly shoved Elena into the room, and she fell onto the hard floor painfully. Tifa nodded at Barret who approached the Empress, nodding when she whispered something in his ear. "Enjoy!" she sweetly told all the guards before leaving.

"May I have her first, Captain?" the warden asked Barret. He lived in the barracks to not be too far from the dungeon in case of emergency with the prisoners.

"Sure thing." Barret answered. "But the Empress wants you to do something when you're done."

Elena knew what she was in for, and tried to escape, but she was disoriented and couldn't see, and she kept running into more guards or furniture. She felt herself grabbed and struck out unsuccessfully. Her arms were pinned down as her legs were forcefully spread apart and she shook her head in denial. "Didn't I tell you that you would be a wench?" the warden asked her as he eagerly thrust into her, ignoring her pained reaction as he destroyed her innocence.

Tifa hadn't closed the door all the way, she had left it open enough to watch Elena get what was coming to her. It was extremely satisfying to see her open her mouth to scream, only to have the guards shove their dick into it. While Tifa lived, no one would get away with insulting Aerith. Her purity was unquestionable, and it would stay that way. Tifa gasped when she saw Sephiroth standing amongst the guards waiting their turn, looking at Elena's suffering and then making eye contact with Tifa, with a nod and smile of approval for her cruelty. Tifa blinked and Sephiroth disappeared. She hurried back to the royal bedchamber shuddering. The evil bastard was dead and he had to stay that way. She must have just imagined seeing him, Tifa told herself as she tried to calm down.

"I don't know what that was." Zack said, trying to figure out an answer to Aerith's other question. His deepest desire was to have everything since Nibelheim just be an awful nightmare, so they could have had their happily ever after. But that couldn't happen, anymore than getting Aerith away from Tifa would undo the damage she did to his wife. But he knew that wasn't the kind of desire she meant.

"So what is your deepest desire?" Aerith repeated, fondling him.

Zack cleared his throat, and neither of them knew he was starting to blush. "I…um…I really can't answer that."

"Why not?" Aerith started to pout.

"I…it's…" Zack paused, thinking Reno would have no trouble answering a question like that, because… "I don't think I'm who you think I am."

"What do you mean by that?" Aerith was getting confused.

"I…uh…was never any kind of womanizing lothario. Except for you and the Empress, I just…don't have much experience." Zack reluctantly admitted, feeling uncomfortable talking to his wife about the other women he had sex with. There was just Tifa, the other guest at his first Bacchanalia, Cissnei once when they were blowing off steam after a mission, and a girl back home who wanted a piece of him when he had decided to join SOLDIER.

"Oh." Aerith was relieved, she had been slightly worried he was going to admit he really wasn't into women. "Well, what do you know about different ways to have sex?"

When they lay almost asleep in each other's arms later that night, Aerith felt rather silly. She knew about oral sex from serving Lady Tifa, but it had never occurred to her that men did it too. It was so different, and her first attempt was so horribly sloppy, but she was determined to master it. Zack had been patient with her, but she could tell he was holding something back when she pumped him for more details about different ways to have sex. She was also determined to find out what he wasn't telling her, since taking him in her mouth was new and a challenge, but it wouldn't give her his child. She snuggled closer to her husband and drifted off to sleep peacefully.

Aerith found herself in a place she couldn't recognize, but which Zack or Tifa would have instantly known was the reactor at Mt. Nibel.

"You think you're safe with her?" a voice asked her, and a tall headless corpse appeared holding a long sword, standing at the top of the stairs in front of a door with letters spelling out J-E-N-O-V-A above it.

"Who…who are you?" Aerith fearfully asked.

"He's the one who was supposed to be your real Master." a voice to her left said, and Aerith turned her head, recognizing the voice. "Cloud?"

"Who else?" He had a puncture wound in his neck and he was rather pale. "Tifa betrays everyone, that's what she does. But we'll make her pay for her crimes, starting with you." Cloud suddenly grabbed her, restraining her as the headless corpse walked down the steps and ran her through with the sword.

"Aerith, what is it?" Zack woke up to her screams, holding her as she trembled with fear.

Their door flung open and Tifa appeared. "What's wrong?" When she saw Aerith shaking, she got on their bed and took her from Zack's arms. "Are you hurt?" she asked Aerith, stroking her hair and kissing her until Aerith calmed down.

"I don't think…I don't know where I was, but Cloud was there, and some tall man without a head. He ran me through with his long sword after saying you had to pay for your crimes and they were starting with me." Aerith explained. "And that I wasn't safe with you."

Zack and Tifa both were worried about this new development, but Tifa was shaken far worse. She turned as bloodless as Cloud had been, then struggled to get a hold of herself. "That's an awful nightmare, but don't worry about it. You know I will always protect you." she kissed Aerith good night and left hurriedly. She laid on her bed with her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. Was Sephiroth going to come back? She had defeated him the first time by taking him down when he was distracted, but she wouldn't get that chance again. She _**had**_ to protect Aerith somehow, she simply had to…


	5. Chapter 5

"You don't have to train your new servant anymore." Tifa told Aerith and Zack the next morning at breakfast. "She has been given other duties."

Zack wasn't surprised and he knew that Elena's 'other duties' were going to be unpleasant for her, because if Tifa didn't kill her outright for her behavior towards Aerith, it's because she thought of a fate worse than death for her.

"We could still use another servant." Aerith told her. "We're trying to start our own family."

"I'd like us to have more babies." Tifa remarked as she gave Zack an inscrutable look. "If you want help, I'll train your new servant myself."

"Thank you for being so wonderful." Aerith smiled adoringly at Tifa as they all finished their breakfast before they all went to take care of their separate duties; Aerith taking care of the twins, Zack training the knights, and Tifa with her plans to protect Aerith.

Elena tried to blink away the confusion and disorientation she felt once she was left alone for a few moments. In her blind and mute state, time had ceased to have any meaning for her, as had so much else. The only real thing was the guards constantly forcing themselves all over her. Elena knew there was something she was supposed to do, but she couldn't remember what it was now. Arms suddenly picked her up and carried her somewhere, only to put her down on another bed moments later, and another body mounted hers again. Elena recognized the body as the warden when she felt his sloppy mouth on her breasts, he was the only one who did that to her, all the other guards just wanted her to satisfy their dick… _warden? Was she in prison?_

"I knew you'd be so foolishy stubborn. Now you're in my bed, and that's where you'll stay, understand?" he asked her. Elena didn't understand, so she turned her head away and closed her eyes. The warden raised his fist, ready to strike her into obedience when a voice interrupted him.

"Did you ask her again, as the Empress demanded?" Barret asked him.

"I was just about to." the warden lied, lowering his arm and gripping her chin painfully to get her attention. "Are you ready to ask for forgiveness? Shake yes or nod no as your answer."

 _Forgiveness? Hadn't she been asked that before? Had she sinned? Is that why she was being punished?_ Elena opened her eyes and hesitated about giving her answer.

Barret saw his opening and approached the bed, putting his warm hand on her forehead. "All the hurt can go away. You want to be cleansed and restored, don't you?" he asked her, following Tifa's instructions.

 _Cleansed? Yes, she was filthy, coated in sweat and semen, and whatever grime the guards had on them. Restored? If that meant healed, her body hurt everywhere and she wanted it to stop. That must be what she was supposed to do, be forgiven_. Elena nodded her head vigorously, much to the warden's disgust.

Tifa swept into the barracks, having received Barret's message. A look of repugnance came over her face as she approached Elena and became aware of her disgusting state. "You haven't washed her in three days?" she asked Barret.

"No, Your Majesty." Barret was surprised by her question, since he had been following orders to destroy her view of self-worth so they could rebuild her into a loyal servant.

 _Three days? What had she done to warrant such a lengthy punishment? Maybe it's for the best she didn't remember_. Elena told herself as she stood still between Barret and the warden.

"Very well." she nodded at Barret who nudged Elena forward. "Are you ready to seek forgiveness now?" Tifa asked her. Elena nodded eagerly and Tifa's smile was full of false benevolency as she took hold of Elena's hand. Before Tifa could say anything else, she heard the warden mutter something under his breath. "Is there something you want to say?" she asked him in a voice colder than death.

"No, Your Majesty." the warden replied, blanching and bowing his head down so far his chin was digging into his chest.

"You've done well with learning your first lesson, now you shall have your second: My will is absolute and you shall not ever question me. Now let's get you a bath." Tifa told Elena.

Elena smiled for the first time in…she couldn't remember the last time she smiled, but the Empress' praise that she learned her first lesson well somehow made her happy, as did the promise of a bath.


	6. Chapter 6

You will be quite pretty once you've been cleansed." Tifa told Elena as she led the filthy naked woman into a single room near Aerith and Zack's bedchamber. "This will be your room once you apologize to Lady Aerith and she forgives you." Tifa explained as she pulled Elena into the bathroom. She wasn't about to let the dirty whore contaminate hers or Aerith's bedchambers in her present state. "Get in the tub." she ordered her, putting Elena's hand on the rim of the bathtub.

While Elena carefully got herself in the tub, Tifa washed her hands off in the sink to wash the grime off. After the bathing, she'd send the maids in to do a thorough cleaning. Turning the hot water on full blast, Tifa overrode Elena's silent objections as she struggled to try and get out.

"Don't worry about the burning, you're just that dirty and we've got to cleanse you properly." Tifa restrained her in the tub. "I promise you will be restored afterwards. Remember, we have the power to heal you from death itself if need be." Elena didn't remember that, but the scalding water made it impossible for her to think very well or struggle successfully against Tifa, so she just nodded as Tifa continued talking. "It will take two days for you to be ready to apologize to her. You have to be taught your new role first. You are going to be a very special servant. Protecting Lady Aerith is your primary goal, but you will serve me above all, then Lady Aerith, followed by her children, and lastly Sir Zack." Tifa's voice droned on and on as she achieved the receptive hypnotic state with Elena she wanted.

"About time you rejoined us." Elena suddenly jerked awake at the sound of Tifa's voice, finding herself still in the tub, but it was being drained. Her body didn't hurt anymore and she felt so clean! "You are doing very well, but you will have to apologize to Lady Aerith, and she has to forgive you before things get any better, understand?" Tifa told her. She planned to mould the young blonde into an absolutely loyal protector of Aerith today, and tomorrow she would make any adjustments needed. She didn't like rushing such a thing, but the Bacchanalia was in four days' time, and if Sephiroth was trying to come back, he would do it at the best time for him, not anyone else.

Elena nodded, feeling ashamed that she had done something to hurt the wonderful Lady Aerith. What had been wrong with her? She must have been very bad, and she was grateful the Empress and her handmaiden were so merciful.

"Have you thought more about what you'd like to try?" Reno asked Yuffie as they got in bed together after a long day making preparations for their absence during the Bacchanalia.

"No." Yuffie reluctantly admitted. She wanted to please her husband so much, but he wanted her to be an equal sex partner, and it wasn't just her years with Tifa holding her back, women in her culture were not supposed to be sexually forward except in the red light districts.

"Try reading some of these books and see if anything appeals to you." Reno handed her five books.

"You would do anything to protect Lady Aerith, wouldn't you?" Tifa asked the sleepy Elena, who nodded enthusiastically if tiredly. "Good girl. Now go to sleep." Tifa told her as she kissed her cheek. She would let her sleep the rest of the night in peace now, she had been keeping Elena awake on purpose to reinforce her brainwashing.

The next morning, Tifa fed her breakfast while subtly quizzing her to see how successful her training had been so far. "You will be meeting Sir Zack this afternoon." she told Elena once she had eaten all her food. "You will be providing a special service to him. I wish you could have been a virgin for him as is proper, but it wasn't to be." Elena bowed her head in shame, catching the intended inference that it was Elena's own fault for deserving such punishment. Smiling, Tifa continued. "But once you've met Sir Zack, we can begin practicing your apology to Lady Aerith. And she'll forgive you and then I can restore your eyesight as well." Tifa gently stroked Elena's hair and kissed her forehead, while the blonde sighed happily at the thought of her coming deliverance.

Zack was feeling really antsy when one of the guards approached him and said that Her Majesty wanted a private meeting with him. Hoping it was time for his fix, he left the knights doing their exercises and gave them orders that would keep them busy while he was occupied. Ever since Aerith's nightmare, Tifa had been rather frantic about increasing the castle's defenses, and training for the knights and guards had gotten more intense, and patrols had doubled. He wouldn't have thought Tifa scared of anything, but patently she was of Sephiroth. He knocked twice on her door.

"Enter!" she ordered him, and Zack obliging did so, locking the door behind him. She was there naked on the bed as usual, with the pill on the small of her back. He unfastened his pants as he got on the bed and took his pill.

Once Tifa saw that the pill had taken effect, she touched the Illusion materia to reveal that it was Elena on the bed, not Tifa herself, she had made cloaked herself with invisibility as part of the illusion as well. "This is one of the ways you will protect Lady Aerith. She may only have sex with her husband to have his children, any recreational needs Sir Zack has, you will fulfill them for him." Tifa ordered Elena in a whisper, who nodded. Her body was used to rough treatment by now, and it almost felt good. Tifa left them to go spend time with Aerith and the twins.

Zack was stunned and disgusted when he became aware that it was the young blonde woman he had just had sex with, not Tifa. What was the Empress playing at, and why was the woman not being punished for her insults to Aerith? He tried to leave when the woman grabbed at him and something about her movements seemed familiar. "You're blind now?" he asked her. Elena nodded and patted the choker and also put her hand over her mouth. "You can't speak either?" Zack felt perversely relieved…she had been subjected to typical Tifa cruelty. But that still didn't explain why Tifa wanted him to have sex with her unless it was to drive a wedge between him and Aerith, even though it wasn't necessary. They already had a chasm between them named Tifa. He was glad Reno would be arriving in a day or two, something was still going on that he needed Reno's cynical mind to help figure out.

"You look so beautiful when you're taking care of them." Tifa told Aerith as she walked into the nursery.

"I don't feel beautiful." Aerith managed a smile for her. The twins had been engaging in their favorite game of throwing things out of their crib to see how many times they could get Aerith to pick it up for them, and without being able to see where it landed, she had to use her hearing to guess where it was and then crawl around on the floor until she found it, and then other toys might get thrown out in the meantime. And she had to feed and change them constantly as well. She felt so worn out and imagined she looked awful.

"I told you no one insults my girl and gets away with it." Tifa reminded her in a mock angry tone, pulling Aerith to her. "And tomorrow morning that rude trainee servant will be apologizing to you. She's just about learned her lesson, but I have to go finish it now. I just wanted you to know you'll soon have a nanny you can trust." Tifa kissed Aerith gently on the forehead and left.

"That's your other momma." Aerith told the baby twins. "Isn't she wonderful?"


	7. Chapter 7

As Tifa sat in her throne the next morning, watching Elena who was wearing her prison rags again, prostrate herself before Aerith and sobbingly beg for forgiveness, her smile was full of malicious triumph. Aerith's nightmare would be just that, a nightmare. Sephiroth was wrong, Tifa would never betray her, or let anyone hurt her, not without the most horrific retribution.

"Of course I forgive you." Aerith told Elena, gently stroking her hair. "We all make mistakes, but love rules here, and you've accepted that now, haven't you?"

"Tha…thank you, Lad…Lady Aer…ith." Elena brokenly said as she tried to get her sobbing under control, and was unused to having a voice again.

"And we still don't know what your name is, will you tell us now?" Aerith asked Elena.

"It's…it's….I don't know…" Elena replied, puzzled.

"Since she is to be your servant, you should pick out her name." Tifa stated to Aerith.

"I still like Cora for a name for you, is that alright?" Aerith asked Elena.

"Yes, it's perfect, Lady Aerith." Elena felt a twinge of rejection of anger upon hearing that name, but she dismissed it as part of her former wickedness.

"So it shall be. You shall henceforth be known as handmaiden Cora." Tifa announced. "Your first order is to help Lady Aerith care for the children. They're probably already turned the nursery into a war zone." A genuine smile now spread over the Empress' face as she thought of how inventive the twins were proving themselves to be about getting into trouble, just like their fath…Tifa's smile was replaced by a frown as she clamped down on the thoughts of the trouble Cloud had gotten them both into, and the price they had both paid. It was over and done with, and Tifa would never again let evil reign. Aerith was inviolate!

"Yes, Your Majesty." Cora responded automatically, interrupting Tifa's thoughts.

"One more thing..." Tifa exclaimed, getting off the throne and approaching the two women. "You will need your eyesight back to properly serve Lady Aerith." Tifa touched the choker and the materia glowed, then dimmed. Cora gasped at having her sight restored, and she quickly closed her eyes as the sudden light hurt them. "I always keep my word, your restoration is complete. And you'll need your eyesight to use this as well." A silver dagger appeared in Tifa's hands. "This is an ice dagger." she explained, showing Cora where the embedded ice materia was. "I expect you to become proficient in its use. Sir Zack can train you…this is not anywhere as complex as his Buster sword is, but it will work for you." she handed the dagger to the astonished Cora.

"I…I shall do my best." Cora said when she could speak, amazed at how generous they were being to her. When Tifa started to remove the choker, she spoke up. "May…may I keep it, Your Majesty?" Cora heard herself saying.

"You want it?" Tifa paused. "Why?"

Cora wasn't sure why she wanted to keep it, but she didn't want to let it go. "I'm…I…I want to keep it as a reminder to prove myself worthy of your mercy." she finally said. "It's harmless now, isn't it?"

"Yes, the materia is not active right now." Tifa smiled and kissed Cora on the forehead as she refastened the choker on her. The brainwashing was more successful than she thought.

Reno wasn't too happy that Shalua was coming back to the Bacchanalia with them, but he really didn't want to leave her alone in Wutai either, so he accepted the necessity with ill grace. "You both got everything you'll need? We'll be gone for a week and we're not going back early!" he reminded them.

"I'm a light packer." Shalua negligently replied over the intercom.

"If I have failed you…" Yuffie started, and Reno regretted his attitude.

"Why don't you read the books?" he suggested as he started the takeoff procedures. Reno soon regretted opening his mouth at all, because Yuffie started reading the unfamiliar sexual instructions out loud, and he had to keep the intercom open with Shalua as an extra passenger.

"How do you keep your balance?" was one of the frequent questions Yuffie asked him about the positions mentioned in the books during the flight.

"You practice." Reno muttered darkly. All he could think of was all the good times those books had given him over the years and now his willing wife was unknowingly getting him all worked up and he couldn't even show her why it was called a cockpit because they weren't alone.

"Her Majesty sent these for your handmaiden to put on." An assistant to the royal tailor handed Aerith a package and bowed to her before leaving the nursery.

"As soon as you're done changing Storm, I guess you should put them on then." Aerith told Cora. "What are you wearing now?"

"Rags." Cora reluctantly admitted. "Prisoners don't deserve anything better." she mumbled.

"Hey, you're not a prisoner anymore." Aerith protested, gently patting Cora's cheek. "You're free just like I promised, aren't you? Hmmm…maybe that's it!" she suddenly exclaimed.

"What's it?" Cora asked as she put the newly changed Storm back in her crib.

"My outfit for the Bacchanalia! Are there such things as sex slaves?" Aerith wondered. "When you put this new outfit on, I can have the tailor design me something out of your rags…I'd try it out on Sir Zack first, we're trying to start a family you know." Aerith paused and blushed.

Cora didn't know how to respond at first. Wasn't she supposed to protect the Lady Aerith's innocence too? "I don't know if Her Majesty would like that…" Cora pointed out.

"Oh, it's a surprise for her! You're right, I can't let anyone know until it's time, please don't tell anyone!" Aerith pleaded and Cora automatically agreed. "I'm glad Reno is coming back, I think I remember being told once that one of his many skills include embroidery."

The name Reno was familiar to Cora, but she couldn't place it. And she was glad it was a surprise for the Empress, that meant it was to please her, and that was at the heart of all her orders, pleasing the Empress.


	8. Chapter 8

"Cora was such a help taking care of the twins." Aerith told Tifa and Zack as the four of them sat down for lunch. "You've blessed us again." Aerith smiled lovingly at Tifa. "Hasn't she?" Aerith turned her head towards Zack.

"As you say." Zack replied noncommittally as he started eating.

"I'm glad she's working out for you, she knows that she is to please both of you." Tifa smiled, more for Zack's attitude than anything else. He must have been quite upset to find out he fucked the help instead of her or his wife. Tifa approved of his anger, since it meant he wanted to be loyal to herself and Aerith. "Don't you?" Tifa reached over and gently caressed the blonde's cheek.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Cora instantly agreed. "I want only to serve you." she said as she looked at the three of them.

"Such a good girl." Tifa kissed her on the forehead. "Cora will need your help after we're done here, she needs to learn how to use her new dagger." she ordered Zack, who stared hard at her before nodding.

"When will Reno and Yuffie be arriving?" Aerith asked Tifa.

"I believe an hour or two before dinner." Tifa replied.

Cora ate the rest her lunch in silence, feeling very contented. Everyone was being so nice to her, and she had a new dress that Tifa had told her was to show off how pretty she was. It was silky dark red, with a plunging neckline and a short flowing skirt. The Empress had explained that it was for the Bacchanalia and other special occasions, and a regular maid's uniform was being created for her.

"What dagger was she talking about?" Zack asked Cora gruffly when they entered the training room.

"This one." Cora handed him the ice dagger, feeling a bit nervous. He didn't seem too happy with her, and she didn't know why. "Was…was I not pleasing to you yesterday, Sir Zack?" she asked as he examined the dagger.

"Shit!" Zack exclaimed as ice shards suddenly materialized and flew out from the dagger, his quick reflexes saving him from serious injury. "This is a nice weapon. Why did she give this to you?"

"I am to protect the Lady Aerith at all costs." Cora stated. "Which includes letting you use me for any recreational needs you have to spare her. Was I not pleasing to you yesterday?" she repeated.

"My wife satisfies all my needs." Zack told her coldly. He figured Tifa wasn't happy he and Aerith were trying to start a family, so he really wasn't surprised. She wanted Aerith all to herself, but to give Aerith the children they both wanted her to have, she had to let her have her own male sexual partner, and he was grateful Aerith still cared about him so he was chosen. "Now give me your hand and I'll show you how to use the ice materia, then you can work on your aim with the shards." He said in a calmer voice, since none of it was Cora's fault. He was glad Reno would be arriving soon, he really needed to talk to him.

"We're here!" Reno was glad to announce their arrival, he was almost bursting from listening to his wife describe out loud almost every sexual variation he had tried over the years during the flight.

"I hope the Empress has some news on the search for my sister!" Shalua blurted out the first personal comment she had yet said as she used her bionic arm to wrench open the cargo door and leap out.

"We're going to find out which room is ours and get settled in, alright?" Reno told Yuffie, holding their luggage in front of him to disguise his condition. Servants came out of the castle to assist them, but he insisted on just being shown to their room.

"I'll show you." Zack appeared, the sound of the helicopter's arrival clearly audible throughout the castle.

"Forgive me for interrupting, Sir Zack, but the Lady Aerith humbly requests Sir Reno's presence as soon as possible." Cora caught her breath, having rushed to deliver the message.

"Sure thing," Reno's eyes bugged out slightly when he saw the blonde, and he turned to Zack.

"This is Cora, our new servant." Zack said blandly and started leading the way to their suite of rooms. "We need to talk." he muttered under his breath to Reno.

"No kidding…" Reno remembered the real Cora, and that wasn't her even if there was a strong resemblance, but she did have a younger sister…what was her name? If that was her kid sister, he had more unfinished Turk business here, but first he had to take care of his unfinished business with Yuffie. He was about to pop, and she was going to enjoy the consequences.


	9. Chapter 9

Shalua knelt in front of the throne. "I humbly reaffirm my dedication to your greatness, Your Majesty."

Tifa waved her hand negligently. "Please, no formalities right now." She smiled down at the genuflecting woman. "Just tell me what you have to report about their activities and I'll tell you what I know about your sister in return. How has their rise to power been welcomed in Wutai and what kind of marriage do they have?" Tifa had other sources of information, but she wanted to see how loyal her spy was after nearly a year away.

Shalua lifted her head up. "Your Majesty?"

"It's been a long time, I want to make sure they're still loyal to me." Tifa told her.

"I have seen nothing untoward on their part." Shalua replied. "It was rough at first, there was serious grumbling about Lady Yuffie's legitimacy to rule. Sir Reno had the troublemakers executed."

Tifa nodded, she already knew about that. "What else?" She got up off the throne and gestured for Shalua to rise, leading her out of the throne room to show her the guest room she would be staying in. "What about her suddenly being the only Kisaragi left alive?"

"You did say he agreed to come right away?" Aerith asked Cora again while they were feeding the twins.

"Yes, Lady Aerith. I don't know what's keeping him…shall I go seek him out?" Cora offered.

"No, it will just have to wait til after dinner I guess. It's almost time, isn't it?" Aerith reached out and patted the heads of her children. "You've had your din-dins, now it's mommy's turn. I love you both!" she told them as she stood up. "Would you please clean up and put them in their playpen and then come help me get presentable, Cora?"

"Of course, my Lady." Cora replied and immediately started obeying the order.

"What could be taking him so long?" Aerith pouted as she walked out of the nursery.

Reno smothered Yuffie's mouth with his own as he thrust into her again. He had already taken the edge off his need for release, but much to his delight, Yuffie had found the new variations surprisingly stimulating, and her eager responses had spurned him on. "This is how it's going to be at the Bacchanalia, understand? Just the two of us." he told her when he had finally worn himself out. He didn't want anyone trying to regress her to how she used to be the last time she was here.

"Yes, my…Reno." Yuffie murmured, keeping her eyes closed as she silently prayed to the Wutaian gods for giving her such a wonderful husband…part of her had feared he had brought her back here to leave her for failing her wifely duties.

Reno smiled and smoothed her hair back from her face. She might have been the last kind of wife he had ever wanted, but something about her struck a deep chord in him, though he would have told anyone they were full of it if they suggested he was falling in love with her. He frowned as a knock on the door disturbed their mutual contentment. "What is it?" he snapped.

"Dinner is in five minutes, Sir Reno, Lady Yuffie." One of the servants announced through the door.

"Fine, we'll be right there." Reno told them and reluctantly separated from his wife.

Everyone was already seated by the time Reno and Yuffie finally made their entrance. She tried to bow respectfully to Tifa, but Reno was holding her close to him, with his arm casually draped over her, so she could only bow her head.

"Nice of you to join us." Tifa remarked frostily.

"Thanks for putting us in a room with such…possibilities." Reno smirked back at her as he and Yuffie sat down next to each other.

"Those are not your proper assigned seats." Tifa's voice was getting testier.

"We don't like being apart from each other." Reno replied.

"That's so romantic, isn't it?" Aerith commented, looking first at Tifa then at Zack.

"Yes." Tifa smiled tightly at her handmaiden while glaring daggers at Reno.

The rest of the dinner passed uneventfully until dessert. "Is it true that you used to embroider?" Aerith suddenly asked Reno.

"What the fuck?!" Reno blurted out, blushing furiously and glaring at her and then Zack. "Where'd you hear that?"

Tifa had shot up out of her chair as soon as Reno started swearing. "No one addresses **my** handmaiden like that, is that clear?" she demanded to know as the materia she was wearing started glowing. Cora felt herself start trembling when it happened, and Yuffie noticed, feeling herself getting scared as well.

"What's going on?" Aerith asked. "Did I say something wrong?"

"You could never say anything wrong." Tifa calmed down and took Aerith's hand in hers, gently squeezing it in reassurance.

Reno also got himself under control when he saw his wife getting upset. "It was for a mission a long time ago, that's it. I'm not some flaming tailor, alright?"

"Your hair's flaming, isn't it?" Zack couldn't resist needling him. It gave him some comfort to know that Reno would always be Reno, even with the world having gone to hell.

"That's cause I'm such a hot guy!" Reno retorted.

The absurdity of the conversation made Yuffie start giggling, then Aerith and Cora started as well, and the tension eased somewhat as they all finished dessert in silence.


	10. Chapter 10

A knock on the door woke Reno and Yuffie up late the next morning. "Do you know what time it is?" he complained as he flung the door open.

Cora stood there in surprise as she stared at his naked body. "The…the Lady Aerith requests your presence in the nursery." she squeaked before hurrying down the hallway.

Reno shrugged and turned back towards the bed. He was sure that new servant was the real Cora's bratty sister she had mentioned a few times, but he needed more intel to decide on a proper course of action. "I'll go see what she wants and then go see Zack. Do you want to go see if there's any breakfast left?" he asked his wife before getting dressed.

"I would like some food, then may I join you in the nursery?" Yuffie requested.

"Sure thing." Reno kissed her on the forehead and then left.

Yuffie was getting dressed when there was another knock on the door. "Just a moment!" she called out, waiting until she was fully dressed before answering the door. "Shalua! What is it?"

"Her Majesty requests your presence immediately." Shalua informed her.

"Of course." Yuffie obediently followed her to the throne room, wondering what urgent matter the Empress could possibly want her for.

"What'd ya want?" Reno asked Aerith by way of greeting as he entered the nursery. "Oh, and could you get me a triple grande espresso?" he turned his attention to Cora.

"What…what is that?" she asked hesitantly.

"We just have regular coffee here." Aerith explained, having remembered Zack telling her once about Reno's preferred morning drinks. "Will that do?"

"Fine." Reno sulked as Aerith dismissed Cora with the order for three coffees, knowing he'd drink them all. "Where'd you find her?" he asked Aerith when they were alone.

"She was a prisoner that Tifa reformed to help us." Aerith explained. "Score another one for the good guys, right?"

"And her name's Cora?" Reno wasn't going to burst Aerith's bubble, but he also wasn't going to encourage her either. He damn well knew what Tifa must have done to her, but he wondered how she ended up a prisoner to put her in Tifa's clutches in the first place.

"She didn't remember what her name was, so the planet told me to name her Cora." Aerith told him, knowing she didn't have to hide her heritage from him of all people.

"That's interesting." Reno drawled, then got back to the original business. "So what'd ya want from me?"

When Cora arrived back with the coffee, Reno was taking Aerith's measurements. He would have refused anyone else, but he relished the shock it would give Tifa to see her precious 'innocent' handmaiden looking like a sex doll come to life. Plus Zack could probably use some spicing up in his sex life, and he was willing to help his old buddy out.

"How may I serve you, Your Majesty?" Yuffie asked, automatically going down on all fours in front of Tifa's throne by force of habit.

"Sooo….you do remember your purpose is to serve me?" Tifa remarked acidly as she got out of her throne and stood over Yuffie.

"Your Majesty?" Yuffie was confused.

"Do you remember how I deal with disloyalty?" Tifa asked her.

"Your Majesty…" Shalua stepped forward almost protectively towards Yuffie.

"I must keep my promises after all. Shalua, it's time you rejoined your sister." Tifa told her.

"You found her?!" Shalua asked excitedly, hope suffusing her. "She's alive?"

"No, she's not." Tifa calmly stated as she shoved one of her boot knives into Shalua's chest. "Now tell me, Princess, do you wish to make me happy?"

"Ye…yes, Yo…Your Majesty." Yuffie was stuttering with fear as she watched Shalua die.

"Good girl. You've been missed here, and I think you should give a proper greeting to one of your old friends." Tifa told her, gesturing behind Yuffie. "You're already in the right position to give me some entertainment."

Yuffie turned her head and started trembling when she saw Barret unfastening his belt. "But…Reno said…" As soon as Yuffie mentioned her husband's name, Tifa backhanded her as hard as she could.

"Who do you serve?" Tifa demanded an answer, grabbing Yuffie's hair and pulling her head up so they were looking eye to eye.

"Yo…you, Your Majesty." Yuffie managed to get out.

"That's right." Tifa said sweetly. "And you and that husband of yours have both been behaving rather badly. You want to be a good wife to him, don't you?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Yuffie didn't know if she was more confused or scared.

"Then you should take both of your punishments on yourself." Tifa explained. "Say you want to be punished."

"Your Majesty?" Yuffie wanted to beg for a reprieve as she felt Barret's hands on her. Reno had made her promise that they wouldn't have any other partners, and she didn't want anyone else. "Please don't…" she stopped when Tifa struck her again.

"Say it!" Tifa snapped at her.

"I…I want to…be…punished." Yuffie managed to get out.

"Then we'll give you what you want, won't me?" Tifa nodded at Barret. "Keep saying it!" she ordered Yuffie.

As she felt Barret pinch her cheeks before pushing them apart, Yuffie obeyed and kept saying she wanted to be punished, while silently praying to the Wutaian gods that Reno would forgive her. Tifa smiled as she watched the tears stream down Yuffie's face as Barret eagerly thrust into her. No one insulted Aerith without paying the price, Reno should have known that, Tifa told herself.

Zack was walking to the nursery to check on his wife when he noticed a funny shadow just outside the throne room. Warily approaching it, he breathed a sigh of relief when he recognized it. "Hey Yuffie, what are you doing out here like that? You and Reno aren't playing some X-rated version of hide and seek are you?" His good mood instantly changed when she just curled herself into more of a ball and started crying again. "Hey, what's wrong?" Zack knelt down next to her and gently put his hand on her shoulder, and then he noticed the bruises on her face and thighs. "It was _her_ , wasn't it?" he said more to himself, then they both heard footsteps and saw Reno coming down the hallway.

Yuffie shrieked and ran away, not wanting to face her husband after she had failed him by allowing another man to touch her. She was nothing but a sex toy after all…

"Let her go for now." Zack held Reno back when he started to follow Yuffie. "She'll come back to you when she's ready."

"What are you talking about?" Reno asked, worried about what was going on with his wife. She was fine in the morning when he left her on her own…his eyes narrowed.

"Tifa." was all Zack would say, confirming Reno's suspicions, and the former SOLDIER recoiled from the expression that appeared on the former Turk's face. He had seen a lot over the years, but he didn't know that anyone could look like ugly death come to play.

Remembering his purpose in trying to seek out Zack, Reno turned to him. "What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked in a voice devoid of emotion.


	11. Chapter 11

Zack and Reno walked together to the nursery, the former SOLDIER filling the former Turk on recent events, starting with Cora's appearance, Aerith's nightmare about Sephiroth, and Tifa's increasingly bizarre behavior.

"That's not the real Cora." Reno whispered as they stood in front of the nursery door. "I think it's her younger sister. The real Cora was murdered protecting your wife from Sephiroth. But leave it to me."

"Reno?" Aerith asked groggily, recognizing his strong cologne. She had fallen asleep rocking the twins after their lunch, and Cora had carefully put them in their cribs and quietly started cleaning up. Aerith had woken up when he opened the door.

"Yeah, I'm here too, just wanted to see if you needed any help, but it looks like you're in good hands." Zack told her.

"Would you get me three more cups of coffee?" Reno asked Cora, who waited until Aerith nodded before leaving. "Oh, and buckle up, buddy. Tomorrow's opening Bacchanalia ceremony will be like nothing you've ever seen before." Reno's tone was blandly casual to Zack, who was kissing his wife before leaving as well.

"Whatever you say." Zack replied, understanding the implied warning.

"Why did you tell him that?" Aerith complained once Zack was gone. "You're not going to spoil the surprise for him, are you?" 

"Not a chance." Reno assured her as he took her unfinished costume from its hiding spot and started working on it again. "In fact, I think you should surprise him more." Reno had an extremely malicious smile on his face…he would get Aerith herself to destroy the 'innocence' that Tifa was so desperate to protect.

"How would I surprise him?" Aerith wanted to know.

When Cora returned with the coffee, she was concerned to see her mistress standing so close to Reno and her cheeks were almost as red as the man's hair as she had her hands positioned oddly on herself.

"That's what you need to try tonight." Reno was saying. "Oh good, I need my pick-me-up to get this done before bedtime." Reno took the first cup of coffee off the tray. "Can I have dinner sent in here too?"

"Yes." Aerith said, her face getting even redder as she realized Cora was now present. The one thing Tifa had made clear to her since that wonderful day they became lovers was proper sexual behavior for someone as special as she said Aerith was, which meant she was only to have sex in private with Tifa and eventually a man to give her children, and here she was getting advice from someone else's husband to help her improve her sex life with her own husband in front of her own handmaiden. She felt wrong for doing it, but it was a surprise, to make Tifa proud of her.

Reno felt quite accomplished as he headed back to his guest suite later that night. He got Aerith's Bacchanalia outfit done, and even if he hated being asked to use his embroidery skills, he felt it might be his best work yet. He was relieved to see Yuffie there as well, even if she was curled up on the floor in one of the corners, in obvious rejection of everything. "Are you coming to bed?" he asked her as he sat down on his side of the bed and started getting undressed.

Yuffie didn't even bother to so much as lift her head up, even though she just wanted to hide in his arms and pretend it was all a nightmare. But she didn't deserve him now…she just curled into a tighter ball and refused to answer him.

Reno sighed. He really didn't want to have to get her back this way, but… "Get your sorry ass into our bed right now, wife!" he snapped at her in the harshest tone he had ever used with her.

Yuffie reluctantly obeyed, having reverted to her slave mentality and only doing what she was told. Tifa was right, she did need to be punished, and now even her husband had finally realized it. She crawled onto her side of the bed, fearfully awaiting him to give her what she deserved, and hoping that her punishment would be brief and he'd forgive her. "I hear and obey, Husband." Yuffie told him in a trembling voice.

Reno saw the bruises on her and his hatred of Tifa abruptly intensified. "I want you to repeat after me: It wasn't my fault and it never was."

"Husband?" Yuffie's voice now trembled with confusion and hope.

"Say it." he told her as he gently stroked her hair.

"It…it wasn't my fault, and…it never was." Yuffie felt her heart beating faster as his hand moved downward to caress the rest of her.

"Now keep telling yourself that. And don't worry about the Empress, I'm taking care of it." Reno told her before kissing her, and Yuffie felt her heart burst with an overwhelming mixture of love and relief. Reno smiled to himself, thinking that putting Aerith in touch with her own sexuality was a perfect start to his plans for vengeance on Tifa. She was the only one in the world that the Empress really cared about, and while he had the means to kill them all, he couldn't bring himself to hurt Aerith, not when all his fellow Turks died to protect her, and he wanted Tifa to live and suffer. So he'd destroy Tifa's 'innocent' little handmaiden and turn her into a highly sexual woman. Getting his vengeance on the Empress while getting his buddy laid in style, it didn't get much better than that…in fact Zack was probably getting quite the surprise right now, Reno thought as his smile widened.

"I've been waiting for you, baby…" Aerith said when Zack finally entered their bedroom.

"Huh?" Zack hadn't ever heard her talk like that before. "Are you okay? And why are the lights out?"

"So you'd properly appreciate your anniversary present." Aerith tried to continue talking in the sultry voice Reno had suggested, but it wasn't natural to her. She flipped the light switch on.

"What the…" Zack stared at her...was that even technically an outfit? Was that why she wanted to know if Reno embroidered? How in the hell was this going to deal with the problem of Tifa?

"Well…aren't you going to open your present?" Aerith approached him and took his hands in hers, putting them on her body before she kissed him, and Zack remembered that Reno had said he'd handle it, and given what the former Turk had already accomplished, there was nothing wrong with trusting him to know what he was doing and Zack would just have to concentrate on obliging his wife's need for experimentation…


	12. Chapter 12

"Sha…Shalua is dead." Yuffie told Reno early the next morning as they showered together to get ready for the Bacchanalia.

Reno paused briefly as he lathered his wife up. "How'd she die?" he asked, though he was sure he already knew.

"She was punished for her disloyalty." Yuffie explained. "And then the Empress said I had to be punished for both of us."

It took all of Reno's self-control to not accidentally hurt his wife as anger flooded through him, not just because of how Yuffie was treated, but he was never one to let someone else take the fall for him if he could help it. Rude had, but only because Reno was unconscious and unable to do anything about it. If that's how Tifa wanted to play, Reno would oblige her and keep striking at her through Aerith, but he'd also get some help from Sephiroth and Cloud. His Chesire cat grin reappeared as he thought of the goodies he had brought with them that he had found in the Royal Treasury of Wutai. "You're clean now." Reno told her. "Now you get to do me."

Yuffie gratefully washed her husband, trying to figure out her dilemma. He had been so wonderful to her, that nothing would make her happier than spending the rest of her life serving him, but he didn't want a slave, he'd be happiest if she was more assertive. Zack and Aerith were the only other married couple she knew that was basically of the same position of herself and Reno. They answered to no one but the Empress as well. Maybe she should ask Aerith for some advice.

Tifa was already seated when they entered the dining room for breakfast. Yuffie kept her head down the whole time which made the Empress smile, but Reno acted like his usual self. "Where's everybody else?" he asked.

"Lady Aerith and Sir Zack have not yet arrived." Tifa replied, her unhappiness with that clearly evident in her tone and body language.

"I'll go see what's keeping them." Reno offered, standing back up and kissing Yuffie reassuringly, whispering that she'd be fine and he'd be right back before he left.

Tifa was about to demand Yuffie not sit at the table once Reno was gone, but she suddenly spotted Sephiroth and Cloud in the doorway, and they were tossing someone's head back and forth between them. They momentarily stopped to grin evilly at her, and that's when she realized it was her own head they were playing with.

"Your Majesty?" Yuffie inquired when the oddest expression came over Tifa's face as she stared towards the doorway.

"What?" Tifa tore her gaze away from the macabre sight to focus on Yuffie, then glanced back towards the doorway and blinked when there was nothing there. "Eat your breakfast." the shaken Empress ordered Yuffie.

As Reno entered the corridor where Zack and Aerith's room was, he saw Barret leaving Cora's room, fastening his belt. Reno frowned briefly until Barret noticed him there, and seemed a bit surprised, nodding almost nervously at Reno, who approached the captain of the guards in a determinedly affable manner, having thought of a way to protect Cora's sister from further sexual abuse. "I hope you used protection." he told Barret.

"Huh?" Barret hadn't expected that question.

"I was told she was brought here originally as a criminal. Dunno what she did, but you do know she was going crazy from syphilis, right?" Reno explained before moving on to Zack and Aerith's door, still smiling as Barret stood there in shock before blanching and putting his hand protectively over his balls.

The persistent knocking finally penetrated Zack's awareness and he slowly opened his eyes, finding himself confronted with Aerith's nipples, her 'costume' having them rather tactfully exposed while concealing the rest of her breasts. Bits and pieces of the previous night flashed through his head…no wonder he felt so drained! He did like sex, but Aerith seemed almost starved for it, and kept demanding his body over and over again…he had never been so glad of the enhancements that came with his First Class rank. "Aerith honey, it's time to get up. The Bacchanalia starts today." Zack gently caressed her arm to help wake her.

Aerith made a sound that was almost like a purr as she opened her eyes. "I hope you're up to it." she replied with a smile. Reno's advice and costume were perfect! She knew she was to only have loving sex with Tifa or procreative sex with Zack, but they were trying to start a family, so last night was permissible even if it wasn't all aimed at getting her pregnant. Sex for enjoyment was so new and exciting for her. "I like it when you're _up_." Aerith slid her hand down the length of her husband's well-muscled body, smiling more when she felt him harden in her hand. Zack groaned as Aerith repositioned herself to take him in her mouth. "I need to practice more, don't I?" she paused and pulled her head away long enough to say before starting again.

"We'll be right there." Zack's strained voice called out to whoever was knocking on the door. He was surprised either of them had any voice left after last night, she had never been so vocal before or demanded that he be as well…

"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" Reno asked with a smirk when Zack finally answered the door, his cheeks getting a little red when he saw the former Turk.

"This is all your fault, isn't it?" Zack quietly snapped back at him before yawning.

"What else are friends for? I guess you didn't get much sleep last night." Reno felt a twinge of bittersweet nostalgia, he had had this sort of conversation with Rude quite a few times, only now he was having it with the husband of the woman Rude was killed trying to save. He shook his head to put the past where it belonged, in the grave.

"Just cause you're such a coffee freak doesn't mean other people don't need to sleep." Zack retorted.

"I did tell ya to buckle up, didn't I, buddy?" Reno reminded him as Aerith joined them. "Come on, the Empress wanted you two at the breakfast table like an hour ago."

"Oh, we're that late?" Aerith cried in dismay, feeling terrible about disappointing Tifa, and they all hurried to the dining room.


	13. Chapter 13

As soon as the four of them reached the dining room, Cora having joined them as they passed by her room, Aerith ran to Tifa's spot at the table and fell at her feet. "Please forgive our tardiness, Your Majesty! I hope we haven't spoiled anything for you on such an important day." Tears fell from Aerith's albino eyes, wetting the demure dress she had put on over the Bacchanalia costume.

"As long as you're really sorry and don't do it again, I forgive you." Tifa kissed Aerith's forehead reassuringly and gently caressed her cheek. Her handmaiden always looked so beautifully innocent in the dresses Tifa had custom made for her, but something seemed unwelcomingly different about her this morning. She put it down to her belated dramatic entrance, and Tifa's own unsettled state of mind at having seen Sephiroth and Cloud. Once everyone had taken their proper seats except for Aerith who sat in the Empress' lap, Tifa gave Zack and Aerith their orders. "The guard patrols will be tripled, and I want the knights at every entrance. Once all the guests are signed in, no one goes in or out, understood? And you…" Tifa paused to stroke Aerith's hair. "You will stay by my side so I can make sure you will enjoy yourself properly."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Aerith's heartfelt reply was echoed by her cuddling against Tifa. Aerith couldn't believe how stupid and selfish she had been to forget how much she owed Tifa and was so relieved she had been forgiven.

"You're always welcome." Tifa kissed Aerith on the lips this time, savoring her sweetness until she saw someone in the doorway again with her peripheral vision, this time a blonde woman who looked vaguely like Cora but her skin was all mottled, and she pointed to Aerith with one hand and drew a line across her throat with her other hand, then vanished. "Yuffie, you will assist Aerith in taking care of the twins. Reno, you will guard them. Cora, you will practice with your dagger. Zack, when you're done giving the knights and guards their day's commands, you will take Cora to my chamber for a private meeting. After lunch you are all to dress yourselves properly for the opening ceremony of the Bacchanalia." Tifa's voice sounded strained to all those listening, and she surprised them all by standing up suddenly and leaving the room.

"Did I do something wrong?" Aerith was hurt and bewildered by Tifa's abrupt departure.

"You know she would tell you that's nonsense." Zack was the first to speak up. "It's a busy day for her, remember?" He wasn't looking forward to his 'private' meeting, but he'd get through it. There wasn't much he wouldn't do to protect Aerith, and that's all he had going for him now.

"Do you want children?" Yuffie asked Reno as she changed Strife's diaper. The babies were so adorable even if the girl seemed a bit moody.

"Kids are for normal people." Reno casually replied. "Ain't met a normal person yet. I'm gonna go see if I can get someone to bring us coffee." He wanted to get away from those squalling bundles that filled him with a sense of horror.

"The Empress ordered you to guard us!" Aerith protested.

"No one would dare harm her handmaiden. Trust me, you're the safest anyone will ever be." Reno assured her before leaving.

"I wanted to ask him…oh never mind." Aerith pouted briefly. She did want to ask him about what else to try with her husband, but her breach of duty this morning with Tifa was still deeply troubling to her, even though the Empress had forgiven her. She just had to wait til the Bacchanalia and that would make everything better.

"It's not your fault, I think he's upset with me." Yuffie told her.

"Why would he be upset with you?" Aerith wanted to know.

"I don't think I'm the kind of wife he wants." Yuffie sadly replied.

"What makes you think that?" Aerith didn't understand Yuffie's answer. "Why would you marry someone if you didn't want them?"

"I want to serve him, but he doesn't want a submissive wife." Yuffie explained.

"Submissive?" Aerith had heard that word quite a few times before, but didn't understand anything negative about it.

"I do whatever he tells me." Yuffie answered.

"You love him, don't you?" Aerith asked.

"Yes! That's why I want to serve him." Yuffie stated firmly. "He's the best man I've ever known."

"I don't see why he would be so upset about you wanting to love him." Aerith honestly replied. "Her Majesty is my everything, and I am so lucky to be able to repay her kindness by serving her with love."

"What about your husband?" Yuffie questioned her.

"Her Majesty blessed me with a wonderful husband as well." A pleased sound escaped Aerith's lips as she thought about their activities of the night before. "I love them both."

"You heard me!" Barret snapped at the warden. "We're healing everyone who stupidly put their dick into that crazy chick!"

"What's that lump in your pants? Were you already infected?" the warden asked.

"None of yer damned business!" Barret didn't feel it was anyone's business that he had shoved a spare healing materia in his pants for protection. "Now bare yer ass so we can make sure you're clean!"

"You're getting better with that." Zack commented when he picked up Cora for their meeting with Tifa.

"Thank you, Sir Zack." Cora replaced the ice dagger in its sheath. "I hope to be able to defend Lady Aerith properly with it."

"I'm sure you will." he replied. "Though I don't know why you'd need to."

"Do…do you not approve of me, Sir Zack?" Cora asked.

"We all have our orders." was all he would say. "Let's get this over with."

"Enter!" Tifa called out when Zack knocked on the door to her royal bedchamber.


	14. Chapter 14

"You gave the guards and knights their new orders? And you practiced with your dagger?" Tifa asked the two of them.

"Yes, Your Majesty." they replied, wondering why Tifa looked a little peaked.

"I've decided that since this is Cora's first Bacchanalia, you will be her escort." Tifa told them.

"I'm no one's escort but my wife's." Zack rejected the order, knowing what she was trying to do, and he had nothing against Cora, but he wasn't interested in any other woman. Aerith was all he wanted, and it was bad enough they both had sexual relationships with Tifa, he wasn't going to add Cora to the list.

" _Your_ wife will be by my side where she belongs." Tifa mocked his relationship with Aerith.

"As you will." Zack said and turned to leave when Tifa launched herself at him.

"You don't leave without my permission. You don't even exist without my permission!" she raged while trying to hit him while Cora's hand instantly went to her ice dagger, but she was unsure if she should use it as she watched them roll around on the floor. Tifa's attempts at hurting Zack were unsuccessful as he easily got hold of her hands, so she viciously kissed him instead.

Zack's eyes widened as he felt her slip one of those damnable pills into his mouth on her tongue, and he closed his eyes in disgust as he felt the drug start to course through his body. He should have known she'd be prepared…

Tifa smiled triumphantly as she felt Zack's resistance to her fade. "At ease." she said to Cora, then turned her attention back to Zack. "Not you, Soldier."

Cora stood there frozen as she watched their violent sexual union, wanting to look away but unable to, caught up in the rawness of it all, and she found herself crying out when Tifa did.

"He's all yours now, Cora." Tifa calmly and gracefully pushed him away, standing up off the floor. "You are to make him presentable in time for the opening ceremony and keep him occupied however he wants to spare the Lady Aerith. This is the kind of thing you'll see plenty of at the Bacchanalia, and it's not suitable for her."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Cora bowed her head, feeling a little conflicted about betraying his obvious attachment to his wife.

"Oh, and give him these if he starts being unreasonable." Tifa handed Cora a bottle of pills before leaving to go make sure everything was set up properly for the opening ceremony.

Zack's disgust increased when his high wore off and he found himself with Cora again. This time he had her pinned against the wall and she was loudly begging him for more while he willingly violated her.

"Sir Zack?" Cora asked when she felt him stop. Sex with him was starting to feel good, even if she knew it was because of the drugs, and she wanted him.

"We've got to get ready for the Bacchanalia, don't we?" he said bitterly as he refastened his pants.

"Oh good, you're here." Aerith said when Zack entered their bedchamber to change clothes. "Would…would you talk to Reno?"

"What about?" he wondered, surprised by her request.

"Yuffie is really upset. She says she wants to be submissive to him because she loves him and he's the best man she's ever known, but he doesn't want a wife like that." Aerith paused to remember what Yuffie had told her. "There must be something wrong with him. She just wants to love him, but he thinks there's something wrong with submission."

"I'll see what I can do." Zack replied noncommittally. The totality and origin of Reno and Yuffie's problems was beyond Aerith's ability to comprehend. "Are you still planning to show off your new outfit today?"

Aerith blushed. "Do you think I should?" She wanted Tifa to be proud of her, but baring her body in front of total strangers wasn't sounding as good as it did at first.

"Yes I do." Zack was glad his blind wife couldn't see the vengeful smile on his face. "But I'll be making sure Cora is safe and you'll be with the Empress, so we won't have much time together until the Bacchanalia is over."

"We can make up for it later, can't we?" Aerith smiled at him. "I'll go take my place with her now." She kissed him on the cheek before leaving.

"Don't you have a better outfit?" Reno complained when he saw Zack as they waited for the sign to take their assigned places for the opening ceremony.

"I leave the fashion crap to you." Zack testily replied.

Reno stared at Zack for a moment, surprised at his uncharacteristic moodiness, but shrugged it off and turned his attention to Yuffie. "Have you decided what you want to try yet?"

"I…I want you to dominate me in front of everyone." Yuffie tried one last time.

Reno frowned. "I'll ask you again when you know what you want." When Yuffie suddenly excused herself to the ladies' room, Cora followed her. "What was that about…ow!" he exclaimed when Zack suddenly slapped him upside the head. "What the hell was that for?"

"Cause you're a jackass and I've wanted to do it for a long time." Zack retorted. "Man, that felt good…"

"Keep your hands to yourself! And why am I being accused of being a jackass **this** time?" Reno demanded to know.

"Because you're the one with the problem now, not Yuffie." Zack told him.

"I repeat…what the hell are you talking about?" Reno wanted more of an explanation.

"You've been pushing her to be her own person again, and while it's admirable, when she finally knows what she really wants and tells you, you dismiss it by acting like she doesn't know what she wants, but you do. How is that any different from everyone who abused her?" Zack clarified.

Reno opened his mouth to refute Zack's statement, but he couldn't think of anything, and then the bell sounded, alerting them to take their places, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Aerith stood at the top of the stairs. "I present to you Her Esteemed Majesty, the Divine Empress!" she called out, signaling the guards to carry in the palanquin.

Once the formalities were all finished and the 'donated' virgin was being defiled by whoever won her as a door prize, Tifa breathed a sigh of relief. The hauntings weren't active right now, but she was getting very disturbed by constantly seeing dead people who seemed to be threatening her or Aerith. Sephiroth couldn't come back, he just couldn't! "Come join me." she said to Aerith, patting a spot next to her on the palanquin. It wasn't just to protect her physically that she wanted her handmaiden with her, but she didn't want the crude sexuality of the Bacchanalia to corrupt Aerith's precious innocence. Their position at the top of the stairs were quite convenient with their slight isolation from the party down on the main floor.

"I…I have a surprise for you." Aerith told Tifa as she sat down next to her and eagerly submitted to Tifa's advances.

"What is it?" Tifa asked, kissing Aerith's smooth neck while caressing her.

"I…I wanted to make you proud of me, so I had an outfit specially made for this." Aerith replied.

"Oh?" Tifa was curious. "What is it?"

Aerith gently separated from Tifa and stood up, undoing her dress and letting it fall at her feet, exposing the costume Reno had made for her. "I hope you like it."

Tifa's jaw dropped as she stared at her sweet handmaiden's beautiful body displayed so brazenly, as if to say _Fuck me like a common_ …"You…you **WHORE**!" Tifa yelled, shoving Aerith away from her.

Everyone on the main floor froze as they heard Aerith scream out for Tifa as she fell down the stairs.


	15. Chapter 15

Zack, Yuffie, Reno, and Cora all ran to the bottom of the stairs, but Reno reached Aerith's unmoving body first and felt for a pulse.

"Is…she…" Zack couldn't bring himself to say any more, and he didn't even feel Cora put a comforting hand on his arm as they looked at Reno for an answer.

"I'm sorry, man." Reno told him, and Yuffie helped Cora support Zack.

They all looked up at Tifa, who was shaking her head, confused as to why Aerith was straight ahead of her, floating up in the air and wearing a virginal dress, looking adoringly at Tifa as usual. Suddenly Sephiroth appeared next to her. "AERITH!" Tifa yelled to warn her, holding her hand out for Aerith to grab, but then he put his hand around Aerith's neck and they both vanished. Tifa blinked in terrified confusion.

"Tifa!" Zack snatched Cora's ice dagger from her sheath and sent dozens of razor-sharp ice shards flying towards her.

The materia Tifa always wore disintegrated them, but it brought her attention back to the bottom of the stairs, and she stared at Aerith's body in shock. Did she just…no, Sephiroth can't have…Tifa slowly descended the stairs, disbelieving what she was seeing. "Aerith, wake up honey. You've got to wake up, people are staring at you. You're better than this." Tifa kept repeating until she reached the bottom step, tilting her head to stare at Aerith's eyes, wondering why they seemed so dull..

"Damn you!" Zack told her, his voice filled with all the hatred he had suppressed for Aerith's sake..

"I didn't…it was Sephiroth, I didn't…I couldn't…" Tifa started shaking her head, then suddenly a horrendously tortured scream burst out of her, and she ran for the nearest exit.

"Took her long enough." Reno calmly stated, and everyone gasped when Aerith suddenly started moving again. "I'll explain later, after I take care of some unfinished business, just like I promised." he told the astonished crowd before he chased after Tifa.

Tifa didn't know where she was going, she just kept running, trying to escape the horror of a life without Aerith caused by her own hand. Suddenly she found herself in front of the door to the eastern tower, and she used the fire materia to turn the door into ashes. Running up the stairs, she turned the second door into ashes as well. In the room where it all started years ago, Tifa started picking up things, remembering Aerith touching them as well, and the books Tifa would read to her to help her sleep.

"I didn't mean it!" She screamed again and the fire materia went crazy, igniting whatever it could find. The smoke started obscuring her vision and making it hard to breathe, and that's when she saw Sephiroth again, this time laughing at her. " **YOU**!" The single word came from a crazed and anguished soul, and she launched herself at him.

Reno was just outside the tower when Tifa came crashing through the single window at the top that Sephiroth had been standing in front of. The glass shards and some drops of blood fell with her. Her cries for Aerith stopped when she landed on top of the helicopter. "Not my bird!" he cried out in dismay as Cora and Yuffie joined him.

"What happened?" they asked in unison, trying to catch their breath.

"I'll tell you all in the morning." Reno told them, trying to not pout that his plan backfired a little, and the bitch probably ruined his prized helicopter. "We'll need to have her dealt with, and someone needs to put out the fire in the tower. Is the party still going?"

"Why?" Yuffie wondered why that was even important now.

"You'll find out." Reno gently spanked her. "Go find us a nice open bed."

"Do you mean…" Yuffie felt her heart leap up.

"I gave you an order, why aren't you doing it?" Reno pointed out.

"I'll do it right away." Yuffie was beaming as she hurried back to the main chamber, passing the guards who Cora had summoned to put out the fire.

"That takes care of that." Reno made sure the illusion materia was still safely hidden in his goggles before telling Cora again to have someone remove Tifa from his bird and clean it up as well.

"You said Aerith was dead." Cora accused him, her hand on her ice dagger.

"No, I told Zack I was sorry for him. And I meant it. I told you, I'll explain it all in the morning. Just remember, you don't fuck with a Turk's wife." Reno's chesire cat grin was in full force as the smug man headed after Yuffie to give her what she wanted.

Cora stared after him… _Turk_? Why did that sound familiar?


	16. Chapter 16

Zack fought the grief and rage he felt as Aerith regained consciousness. He didn't know what Reno did, but making him think she was dead crossed a serious line with him.

"What…what happened?" Aerith's words were slightly slurred from grogginess. "I…I hurt."

"Sssshhhh, don't talk yet. It's okay now." Zack told her, stroking her hair. "You just fell down the stairs, that's all."

"I did?" Aerith's memory focused. "I…she…I just wanted to make her proud of me!" she sobbed, devastated and confused to the very core of her being. Tifa had **never** been violent with her before, either in word or deed.

"I'm sure she'll tell you she is." Zack carefully held his wife in his arms so he wouldn't hurt her further when he saw Reno's familiar lanky figure stroll towards them. "What did you do?" he demanded to know when Reno stood in front of them.

"What I promised." Reno replied negligently.

"Where is the Empress? I need to apologize to her." Aerith gulped out between sobs.

"You can do that in the morning. She's not feeling well right now. And if you'll excuse me, I've got to deal with my wife, thanks to your damned meddling." Reno spied Yuffie on one of the non-curtained beds, and she was starting to attract a crowd by those who wondered if she was still for all to enjoy. He left Zack and Aerith, pushing his way through the guests who were just milling about, uncertain what was going on. When he reached the bed, he put a hand possessively on Yuffie's ass. "Tell these people who you serve." he ordered her.

"You, my husband." Yuffie obediently said, relieved he had shown up.

"You heard her, this is mine alone." Reno pinched her cheek before getting on the bed with her. "Strip and assume the position."

"Yes, my husband." Yuffie smiled as she took her clothes off and got on all fours.

Reno kissed the small of her back as he unfastened his pants. He wasn't all too happy that Yuffie wanted to be submissive after all, but that's what she said she wanted, and he had the usual post-mission horniness, so he'd just consider this role-playing. Yuffie sighed in contentment as his lips traveled up her body, stopping to nibble at her ear. "Is this really what you want?" he whispered to her.

"Yes!" she fervently replied.

Reno had never her speak so firmly, so maybe she really meant it. He shrugged and whispered to her again. "How far do you want to go?"

"All the way." Yuffie insisted.

"Who gets to fuck you?" Reno asked her in a loud voice as he lubed up.

"Nobody but my husband fucks me." she immediately answered in a similarly loud voice.

"How?" Reno got himself into position.

"However he wants." Yuffie's pulse quickened as she felt his readiness…he was actually going to do it! She loosely gripped the sheets in anticipation.

"I want my wife to beg." Reno stated.

"Please fuck me, husband!" Yuffie obediently begged. "I need to feel your dick inside me."

Reno was taken aback by how convincingly she said that and felt himself getting more turned on. "Keep begging!" he ordered her.

Yuffie gasped and tightened her grip on the sheets as he entered her. "Please let me satisfy your dick!" she managed to say. "I'm your wife, my body belongs to you." She wasn't aware of anything else she said as she reveled in being claimed by her husband in front of everyone. He had finally kept his promise to her that she'd be safe with him. Now that he had openly declared himself as her monogamous master and she had willingly submitted to his domination, no one else would ever touch her again. And he had taken care of Tifa as well, so she wouldn't hurt Yuffie or order anyone else to either. She started to silently thank the Wutaians gods for letting their paths cross two years ago, but was distracted by moaning and then realized she was doing it. "Please…" she started to say.

"Less talking, more moaning!" Reno demanded, and Yuffie obeyed. "That…that wasn't so bad." he panted a short while later.

"I hope I have pleased you, husband." Yuffie said.

"Sure thing." Reno slid his hands up her body, cupping her breasts and squeezing them as he saw Zack gently pick Aerith up in his arms and carry her away, presumably to their bedchamber. They'd have a chance to be happy now, without that bitch controlling Aerith.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Zack angrily demanded early the next morning. He had burst into Reno and Yuffie's bedchamber, grabbing Reno out of bed and slamming him into the wall. "You almost got her killed!"

"I didn't think she'd actually push your wife down the stairs. And I said I was sorry." Reno calmly explained. "But I knew destroying her mental image of Aerith would open the door to destroying her. There was an illusion materia in the Wutaian treasury that I used to help, making Tifa think she saw dead people. You telling me about Aerith's dream with Sephiroth and Cloud gave me the idea." Reno looked over at the bed. "I was gonna use the materia for some role-playing, but we'll try that when we get back home." he told Yuffie.

"You really don't get it, do you?" Zack couldn't believe Reno's stupidity. "Aerith can't live without Tifa anymore! She spent most of the night crying her eyes out, begging for Tifa's forgiveness for that damned outfit, blaming herself for everything! Killing Tifa is the same as killing Aerith, you stupid bastard!"

"Then it's a good thing Tifa is still alive, isn't it?" Reno said.

"What?" Zack stopped his ranting and stared at Reno.

"Follow me." Reno threw some clothes on and gestured for Zack to follow him. Yuffie hurriedly dressed and joined them on their way to the dungeon. They stopped in front of what had been Zack's and then Elena's cell, and found Tifa strapped in the chair, seemingly asleep, garbed in lowly prison rags instead of her materia-laden attire. "The healing materia worked almost automatically, and she didn't fall that far cause she landed on the chopper instead of the ground." Reno's voice turned sour. His plan had two unintended snags, the assault on Aerith, and that bitch having the nerve to save herself by hurting his precious bird. Sure the damage was really just cosmetic, but it was the principle of the thing!

Suddenly Tifa's head shot up and she started laughing maniacally. "You can't fool me…I'd never hurt her! It was always Sephiroth!" She ranted more as she struggled against the restraints, and they left her there.

Cora joined them as they were leaving the dungeon, and she wondered briefly why all the guards seemed to be avoiding her since the morning of the Bacchanalia, before she focused on her reason in seeking the guests out. "Sir Reno, what is a Turk?"

 _Six months later_

"Are you sure about this?" Reno asked her again.

"Yes." Cora immediately replied. When he and Yuffie had come back to check on Zack and Aerith, she had decided to ask them if a position could be found for her in Wutai. Her memory was changing, and only Reno seemed to have the answers, so it seemed best for many reasons to go with them. "I'll go tell him and then we can leave."

She found Zack where she expected to, staring out of his office window at the eastern tower. Quietly approaching him, she gently put her hand on his arm. "They're ready to leave now, Sir Zack."

"Oh, is it time already? Uh, I'll walk you out." he absentmindedly replied. "I don't know why you want to leave, we'll sure miss you around here."

"They've promised to send you some more help from Wutai, you won't even notice I'm gone." Cora reminded him, and reminding herself that what he hadn't noticed was why she had to leave.

"We'll notice." Zack tried to sound cheerful as they approached the helicopter. "No, you keep that, it's yours." he told her when she tried to hand him the ice dagger back.

"She'll be fine eventually, you'll see." Reno told Zack, and they knew he didn't mean Cora. "Next week I'll fly some new servants over for you. Maybe an herbalist as well to help." Reno felt unexpectedly guilty every time he saw the sadness in Zack's eyes.

"Thanks, pal. Like you said, she'll be fine eventually." Zack remarked blandly. "Let's not keep you any longer. You've got your own realm to run after all."

"Yeah. Just waiting on Yuffie." Reno explained. "She wanted to see Aerith before we left. I think she really just wanted to spend more time with the twins. I'm not sure if it's helping or hurting her thoughts about starting a family." he awkwardly said as Yuffie ran out into the courtyard. "There you are, we're all packed and ready to go."

"She just needs time." Yuffie hugged Zack goodbye and quickly boarded the helicopter.

"We're just about ready to take off, this is your…" Reno told Cora through the intercom.

"I'm sure." she repeated, grateful she couldn't see Zack from the cargo bay as she felt Reno takeoff. The past few months had been such constant turmoil, after Tifa went mad and was no longer ruling, Zack had kicked his drug habit, and Cora had seen him through the worst of the withdrawals, since Aerith was in no condition to, and…Cora put her hand on her stomach. Zack hadn't noticed the slight weight she had gained now that she had just started showing, and while she knew he would do what he deemed as the right thing, saddling him with a bastard child with everything else he had to deal with was the absolute wrong thing to her. She respected him far too much for that, and since she wasn't quite sure who she was now, she needed to move on. "It's for the best." Cora ignored the tightness in her chest that formed when she said that.

Zack backed away and waved as they flew off, then went to the nursery to check on his wife. "You and Yuffie sure hit it off." he told her, forcing a smile.

"Did I hear a helicopter?" she asked him. She was sitting in the rocking chair, looking out the window at the eastern tower.

"Yes, Reno and Yuffie just took Cora back to Wutai with them." he reminded her.

"Oh." Aerith's lips suddenly trembled. "Why does everyone leave me?"

"Hey, I'm still here, remember?" Zack kissed her on the forehead. "And I'm not going anywhere." He picked her up and sat down in the chair, putting her on his lap. "Til death do us part, remember?"

Aerith was slightly comforted by his arms around her, it reminded her how Tifa would hold her sometimes. Zack sighed as they both looked at the eastern tower. Once the fire damage was cleaned up, it was decided that was the safest place to house Tifa, but bars were put over the window, and an elevator was installed so she couldn't hurt herself with the stairs. Aerith had been relieved at first when she would take Tifa her meals, and all Tifa would talk about in her madness was her guilt about hurting her, it reassured her that Tifa didn't blame her for the costume, but then she started saying other horrible things that Aerith couldn't cope with, anymore than she could cope without having Tifa run her life anymore. To lessen the physical and psychological threat Tifa represented, the choker that rendered the wearer blind and mute was put on her.

It didn't do much to help Aerith though, she became a shadow of her former self, even when taking care of her children or the doctor telling her she and Zack were successful in their attempts at starting their own family. She just went through the motions of living, spending most of her free time just staring at the eastern tower, praying for Tifa to be restored. She had to eventually quit taking Tifa her meals, it was too traumatic for her to be around a blind, mute, and mad Tifa, day in and day out. He couldn't save her from the shock of having her perfect world destroyed, but all Zack could do for Aerith now was to be a loving husband, and he intended to, hoping she'd rediscover a reason for living.


End file.
